The Record: Heroes for all time

The Record

SOMETIMES WE have a habit of forgetting real heroes, the men and women who place themselves in harm’s way in defense of this nation. On Tuesday at the White House, two dozen all-but-forgotten heroes were finally remembered for their valor, duly honored many years and miles away from the battlefields on which they served.

AP

Staff Sgt. Melvin Morris is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in Washington.

President Obama recognized these heroes by bestowing on each of them the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, after they had been overlooked for decades because of their ethnicity or skin color. The belated awarding of the medals came following a congressionally mandated review meant to ensure that eligible recipients had not been bypassed due to prejudice.

Those honored this week for their "conspicuous gallantry … above and beyond the call of duty" included Hispanics, Jews and African-Americans who fought in World War II, Korea or Vietnam.

"Today we have a chance to set the record straight," Obama said during the ceremony. "No nation is perfect, but here in America we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal."

Among those recognized, three are still living, all of them Vietnam veterans: Staff Sgt. Melvin Morris, of Cocoa, Fla.; Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rodela, of San Antonio; and Spec. Santiago Erevia, also of San Antonio. Another recipient was Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, a machine gunner who died in Korea. Kravitz, uncle of actor and singer Lenny Kravitz, who attended the ceremony, is credited with saving his platoon by providing cover for retreating troops. Another recipient, Cpl. Joe R. Baldonado, who also fought in Korea, is a Colorado native whose remains were never found.

Morris, an African-American, said that though he "never really did worry about decorations," he fell to his knees when he received the phone call from Obama telling him of the news about the honor. Erevia, who was cited for courage while serving as a radio-telephone operator on May 21, 1969, in South Vietnam, is said to have single-handedly silenced four Viet Cong bunkers.

"I thought I was going to get killed when I started to advance because when you fight battles like that you don’t expect to live," Erevia said.

Indeed, in the hours of horrific, frenetic combat, the line between life and death is a thin one, decided in a matter of seconds. Morris, Rodela, Erevia and all others named this week risked death so that others might live. The Medal of Honor, in these cases delayed far too long, calls attention to such selfless acts.

The Record: Heroes for all time

Staff Sgt. Melvin Morris is awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in Washington.

The Record

SOMETIMES WE have a habit of forgetting real heroes, the men and women who place themselves in harm’s way in defense of this nation. On Tuesday at the White House, two dozen all-but-forgotten heroes were finally remembered for their valor, duly honored many years and miles away from the battlefields on which they served.

President Obama recognized these heroes by bestowing on each of them the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military decoration, after they had been overlooked for decades because of their ethnicity or skin color. The belated awarding of the medals came following a congressionally mandated review meant to ensure that eligible recipients had not been bypassed due to prejudice.

Those honored this week for their "conspicuous gallantry … above and beyond the call of duty" included Hispanics, Jews and African-Americans who fought in World War II, Korea or Vietnam.

"Today we have a chance to set the record straight," Obama said during the ceremony. "No nation is perfect, but here in America we confront our imperfections and face a sometimes painful past, including the truth that some of these soldiers fought and died for a country that did not always see them as equal."

Among those recognized, three are still living, all of them Vietnam veterans: Staff Sgt. Melvin Morris, of Cocoa, Fla.; Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rodela, of San Antonio; and Spec. Santiago Erevia, also of San Antonio. Another recipient was Pfc. Leonard Kravitz, a machine gunner who died in Korea. Kravitz, uncle of actor and singer Lenny Kravitz, who attended the ceremony, is credited with saving his platoon by providing cover for retreating troops. Another recipient, Cpl. Joe R. Baldonado, who also fought in Korea, is a Colorado native whose remains were never found.

Morris, an African-American, said that though he "never really did worry about decorations," he fell to his knees when he received the phone call from Obama telling him of the news about the honor. Erevia, who was cited for courage while serving as a radio-telephone operator on May 21, 1969, in South Vietnam, is said to have single-handedly silenced four Viet Cong bunkers.

"I thought I was going to get killed when I started to advance because when you fight battles like that you don’t expect to live," Erevia said.

Indeed, in the hours of horrific, frenetic combat, the line between life and death is a thin one, decided in a matter of seconds. Morris, Rodela, Erevia and all others named this week risked death so that others might live. The Medal of Honor, in these cases delayed far too long, calls attention to such selfless acts.